Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Wednesday a state indictment against the two alleged migrants accused of robbing and shooting an off-duty Border Patrol agent in a Manhattan park last month.
According to Bragg, 21-year-old Miguel Mora has been indicted on two counts of attempted murder, two counts of robbery, assault, and more while 22-year-old accomplice Cristhian Aybar was slapped with two counts of robbery, two counts of attempted robbery, assault, and more.
Bragg said that prosecutors believe both men planned a string of July 19 robberies via WhatsApp, which would ultimately leave the off-duty Fed with a gunshot wound to the face — but he was not the only one they targeted that day.
Court documents show that moments before the pair, riding a motorized scooter, rode to Fort Washington Park at approximately 11:45 p.m. on July 19, where they approached a 39-year-old woman sitting on a park bench. Mora allegedly shoved the woman to the ground after he attempted to snatch her cellphone and she fought back.
As they fled on the moped toward the George Washington Bridge, prosecutors said, the duo allegedly spotted the 42-year-old Border Patrol agent sitting on a jetty with a female. Mora allegedly hopped off the vehicle and brandished a gun before creeping up on his target. However, as he reached the officer, both men exchanged gunfire. The fed was struck in the face and once in the hand and wrist, while Mora was hit in the thigh and groin.
Mora hobbled back to Aybar who dropped him off at Bronx Care Hospital. Mora was arrested while in the hospital, and Aybar was cuffed the following day. The wounded border patrol agent, meanwhile, was brought to Harlem Hospital for treatment.
“I want to commend this officer who, while he was on duty, acted bravely and courageously. Again, this was a robbery spree planned on text message, and was the second — you don’t know what would have happened afterwards had he not acted courageously,” Bragg said. “I continue to pray for a full recovery for him.”
Bragg stood alongside Mayor Eric Adams and New York Special Agent in Charge Ricky Patel. While Adams has previously come down hard Big Apple’s sanctuary city laws, on August 6 Patel blamed them for allowing both men to be on the street at the time of the shooting.
“They shouldn’t have been here. If they were deported and or not allowed to be in this country, this tragedy wouldn’t have happened,” Patel said.
Bragg, on the other hand, refrained from commenting on that aspect of the case.
“I’m not going to speculate, I will leave it to the federal authorities on that. I will say, certainly as an office, we follow, as I’m sure you know, respect the law of the city of New York,” Bragg said.
Mayor Eric Adams left the press conference before he could take any questions.
Both Mora and Aybar are expected to be arraigned later this month.
